The Overview
Notark wanted to develop a stable, specialty polymer that could cater to the highly evolving energy sector, where energy is derived from renewable sources rather than conventional fossil fuels. The company had built a breakthrough technology platform to develop the molecule, but encountered stability issues midway. Syngene supported Notark in resolving key technical challenges and developing the specialty polymer for potential commercial use in green energy generation. With the molecule demonstrating strong performance potential, Notark is evaluating the polymer for use in a planned renewable energy application.
The Challenge
Notark (a subsidiary of DL Chemical) is a global producer of specialty polymers and high-value performance products derived from renewable resources. The company wanted to diversify its existing product portfolio to include energy applications. The endeavor was to develop a stable, specialty polymer that could cater to the highly evolving energy sector, where green energy is used as fuel instead of conventional energy sources.
The company had built a breakthrough technology platform to develop the molecule. However, challenges surfaced due to stability issues with the molecule. Since they were already associated with Syngene for an ongoing project, they decided to partner with us for this project as well. They were confident we could assist in resolving technical issues and advancing the molecule toward commercial viability
The Solution
Our Performance and Specialty Materials (PSM) team was enlisted for the project. As a first step, the team undertook a root cause analysis to understand the reasons behind the instability of the existing molecule. We found that the primary cause of the molecule’s instability was the design of the functionalization agent.
Our team collaborated with the Notark team to rework the design of the functionalization agent and finalize a structure that could balance the molecule’s stability and conductivity. The next step was synthesizing the functionalizing agent. Initially, we worked on the proposed synthesis route. When that did not yield the desired results, our team of experts proposed an alternative route and successfully synthesized the molecule in-house.
However, a further challenge awaited us. The synthesis process involved a hazardous chemical commonly used in functionalization chemistry. While manageable at a lab scale, it posed significant challenges for scale-up operations. Our team meticulously converted the chemistry into a single-pot reaction step. The prototype polymers made from this newly designed molecule were evaluated by Notark application studies under test conditions. The polymers demonstrated stable performance for over 10,000 hours, indicating strong durability.
This was an important milestone for Notark as it now opened the doors for scaling up the production of the molecule to commercial levels. Syngene’s GMP-compliant facility and track record of regulatory experience made it a natural partner for scale-up. Here, too, we encountered challenges related to scale-up. We mitigated these challenges by undertaking process engineering and scale-down studies. This helped us find solutions to scale up operations faster. Furthermore, our product development capabilities enabled the client to convert the specialty polymer into multi-foot rolls — an important milestone in commercial readiness.
Our efforts resulted in the following customer benefits:
- Launch of a stable specialty polymer that could be utilized for green energy generation
- Diversification of the existing product portfolio
- Building a supply chain for a steady supply of the polymer molecule to meet market demand
- Establishing early-mover capability by producing the specialty polymer film in multi -foot rolls – an important advancement for this application space.
Conclusion
Notark appreciated our team’s capability and expertise in providing the right solution for a complex problem. The impact of this project was so far-reaching that the technology platform developed for this molecule evolved into a separate entity within Notark. Further, with the molecule showing immense performance potential, Notark is setting up a multi-megawatt plant for green energy generation.
Following the product launch, Notark placed an initial order with Syngene to support market demand. Discussions are on around future scaleup volumes. “
To know more about our services and capability in performance and specialty materials, contact our experts.
